Why travel spend needs a higher priority

Travel is disruptive, refreshing, regenerative and transformative and should have the highest priority in our spending plans.

Money for travel often becomes a residual item after everything else has been taken into account. In this post I will help you understand why travel adds meaning and its expenditure should have a higher priority.

The power of transformative travel

We usually think of travel as leaving home, often for a distant and unfamiliar destination. Taking a holiday, as many of us will be doing this July and August, is one form of travel. However, a deeper transformative journey is a spiritual as well as physical process. Thus, reading a book is can be a journey. It can take you out of your comfort zone and into a new, challenging environment. This will provide you with potential for personal growth.

Your journeys will certainly involve holidays in the conventional sense of the word. However, travel that is more purposeful andtransformative will include exploring new places and new cultures, discovering art, science, politics, visiting friends or family, attending conferences and workshops, volunteering, festivals, etc.

Travel has an influence on our lives beyond just the journey or holiday itself. It involves time and money.It is also fundamentally disruptive, taking us out of our normal routines and comfort zones, and is therefore both refreshing and regenerative. Travel, at the end of the day, is transformative.

Travel in life and financial plans

Our journeys, therefore, should form an important part of our life and financial plans. Consequently, I would argue they should be positioned towards the top of our agendas.

Your journey will have three phases: preparation, your journey itself and your return. Combined, they deliver personal integrity and transformation.

These days, my preferred travel with a purpose is my trips to Lourdes, where I was in June and will be again this July. I assist in the running of the Sanctuary and also work with a Pilgrimage. It is a privilege to help those unable to look after themselves participate in their own physical and spiritual transformative journey.

These journeys have taught me about the benefits of purposeful travel and its impact on me.

Preparation is everything and is the subject of the next post. In a final post I’ll look at the journey itself and its aftermath, as well as the financial implications.

Find out more

This is an abridged version of the Living Money members monthly topic.Members can participate in an in-depth study of the topic through access to the full post, additional material, recommended reading, reflective exercises, discussions and contributions.

About The Author

Jeremy Deedes is a life and financial coach. He works with professional and entrepreneurial families who want to lead wholehearted, authentic and meaningful lives. He teaches clients to develop a strong and sincere relationship with money that is nothing less than their route to personal and financial freedom, their best defence against the tremendous social and financial pressures generated by the consumer society and the solution to why money and time always seem so scarce. He is the author of the acclaimed book Right Money, Right Place, Right Time. Jeremy is known for putting the life back into money. He is passionate about providing clients with an alternative to product sales oriented financial advice, one that recognises and honours their humanity more than their money. His mission is to leave clients feeling liberated.